He's your $9-million man

News about Leonard Cohen and his work, press, radio & TV programs etc.
kaczor47
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Re: He's your $9-million man

Post by kaczor47 »

Geoffrey wrote:... Personally, I have been impressed with the calmness and integrity Leonard has shown - in fact I cannot think how he managed it - taking into consideration that he'd been robbed of virtually every penny he had saved, as well as boxfull upon boxfull of his private manuscripts, journals, diaries, notebooks and letters. ...
I have not been following this story _that_ closely, but I did not realize he was robbed of manuscripts etc. Can someone point me to some reference that would provide more details?

(Geoffrey, I do believe you, I just want to find out more about it)

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John K.
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Post by John K. »

Simon wrote:Is there any possibility that she may appeal of the jugement? If she has money hidden somewhere she could afford it and the thing could last for ever...
Yes, she could appeal, however her chances are weak.

The reason I say this is that it is a "default judgment". It's the only reason that this ended as soon as it did, the courts in the US are dramatically understaffed and non-criminal cases generally take years to come to trial. A default judgment means that she (and her lawyers) failed to meet a court imposed deadline for something, it could be anything. It could have been not appearing before the court when it was required. It could have been not filing certain papers or appearing for discovery when it was required. There are hundreds of potential reasons.

So what happened is that LC's lawyers asked the judge to make a decision based on the inability of the defense to meet the court's requirements, and thus the judgment was made.
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Post by John K. »

Nightstalker wrote:Geoffry,

Also, I haven't read anything one way or another but I would speculate that the source of the 'conspiracy against Greenburg' may well have been Kelley stirring the soup against Leonard. Has anyone seen anything about who started this? All I have seen said that Greenberg felt he was being coerced and that there was a conspiracy but I haven't heard what evidence he has for that.
Greenberg's lawsuit, or a link to it, was posted in the forum some time ago. In it he alleged that LC personally suggested to him that he should agree to help defraud Greenberg's insurance company. Not saying that was true, just reporting what I recall.
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He's a lazy banker living in a suit

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jarkko
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Post by jarkko »

http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2 ... nance.html
Cohen unlikely to see cash out of $9.5M settlement
Last Updated Fri, 03 Mar 2006 12:20:28 EST
CBC Arts

A Los Angeles court has ordered Leonard Cohen's former business manager to pay him $9.5 million US, but Cohen's lawyer doubts he'll ever collect.



An emotional Leonard Cohen during the 2006 Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala in Toronto. Cohen's former business manager has been ordered to pay him $9.5 million US. (CP Photo/Nathan Denette)
Former business manager Kelley Lynch has not responded to allegations of stealing Cohen's retirement savings, said Cohen's lawyer, Scott Edelman.

"She's hard to get in touch with. I don't know where she lives now, and I don't have a phone number for her," Edelman told Associated Press. "We don't know what she did with the money. ... But she knows what's going on because she leaves me phone messages at all hours."

A Superior Court judge granted the Canadian singer-songwriter a default judgment on Monday, after Lynch failed to appear.

Cohen claimed in a lawsuit that he had $5 million US from his personal accounts and investments when he left Lynch to manage his affairs. The money disappeared between 1994 and 1999 when Cohen was living at the Mount Baldy Zen Centre in California. His savings were reduced to only $150,000, the lawsuit claims.

Cohen, 71, is appearing more in public after his financial loss and has a new book of poetry and a CD coming out this spring. A documentary, Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man, is also creating new interest in his work.

He was recently inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, as were his songs Suzanne and Bird on a Wire.

Lynch had worked for Cohen for 17 years until he fired her. She could not be located for comment.

She has refused to return photographs, records and memorabilia to Cohen, even after a court order, Edelman says.

Another defendant in the suit, tax professor and lawyer Richard Westin, reached an out-of-court settlement with Cohen on Feb. 13, but details were not available.

"Leonard is sad that this whole thing took place, but glad that this leg of the litigation is completed," Edelman said. "He would prefer to spend his time on his creative endeavours."
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lizzytysh
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Post by lizzytysh »

If ever a man deserved to recoup his losses, it's Leonard.


~ Lizzy
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Dem
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Post by Dem »

lizzytysh wrote:
"...that would summon additional compassion in Leonard, particularly since he's suffered the depression end of it. I don't recall that there's ever been any suggestion of his being manic-depressive, only depressive..."
"As he matured,Cohen began to display the characteristics of manic-depressiveness.These symptoms usually first appear around the age of eighteen or nineteen;cyclic and recurrent shifts from manic creativity,sociability ans sexual activity on one hand,and intense lassitude,withdrawal and anxiety on the other.In addition, victims tend to be obssesive and extremely organized.Cohen was, and is,absorbed by his writing and music, and is unusually tidy and concerned with detail.His homes have all been spotless ans almost bare in their furnishings;his notebooks are all ordered by year, and his work habits reflect his concern with discipline and precision."

Ira Nadel "Various Positions" pg.49-50.

Dem
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Geoffrey
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Re: He's your $9-million man

Post by Geoffrey »

I wrote:
>. . . he'd been robbed of virtually every penny he had saved, as well as boxfull upon boxfull of his private manuscripts, journals, diaries, notebooks and letters.

kaczor47 asked:
>Can someone point me to some reference that would provide more details? (Geoffrey, I do believe you, I just want to find out more about it).

Hi. I only know what was written in a newspaper article provided by a lady called 'Anne'. If you click on this URL you may arrive at this source, but I warn you that I'm not renowned for my technical competence. It most probably won't work.

viewtopic.php?t=4800&start=0
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Geoffrey
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Post by Geoffrey »

Jarkko quotes Leonard Cohen's lawyer, Scott Edelman - as he talks about Kelley Lynch:
>"She's hard to get in touch with. I don't know where she lives now, and I don't have a phone number for her . . . she knows what's going on because she leaves me phone messages at all hours . . . She has refused to return photographs, records and memorabilia to Cohen, even after a court order."


Did she verbally refuse to return Leonard's items in the course of the series of telephone messages left for Mr Edelman, or is her basically uncommunicative tactic, together with the non-appearance of the said items, interpreted as a refusal to co-operate? I would like to know if she has actually said to anyone that she refuses to return anything, or whether this is simply the deduction due to their non-arrival. I thought that the sheriff had gone to her house and picked up 35 boxes full of Leonard's stuff. Does this mean that they've been through everything that was seized and discovered that some things are still missing? Is it possible to obtain some clarity on this? Unlike banknotes, photographs and memorabilia are often irreplaceable - and therefore extremely precious. And how can it be that someone involved in a multi-million dollar courtcase can so effectively go underground? Surely there must be a way to locate a lady who has two children and who owes so much money to somebody. I don't understand what happens if somebody is unable to repay what they owe. How long will Kelley have to be on the run before her debts are wiped out by time? Will she have to go to prison if she can't pay? If she takes a job is she forced to send a percentage of her wages to Leonard until the debt is repaid? If she wins on the national lottery will she be made to repay Leonard?
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Post by Simon »

Dem wrote:
...characteristics of manic-depressiveness...
Those fit the description of an hawfull lot of zen practioners over the centuries...
Cohen is the koan
Why else would I still be stuck here
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lizzytysh
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Post by lizzytysh »

I'm open to correction here, however, since it's a civil suit, there's not the kind of recourse there would be if it were a criminal case. We no longer have debtor's prison; however, subsequent earnings would be subject to a judgement and be attached.

Yes ~ I agree... absurd that she could just disappear and not be found. Absurd. [No wonder bin Laden can't be located, if this is any example... :roll: ] Being so broke that she has no phone is also, in my opinion, a ruse.


Thank you, Demetris, for that passage from Various Positions. I, obviously, need to read it, as I run afoul of things that I wouldn't, if I had. Now that I've read it, again, however, I recall having read that before. I guess the "manic-" aspect slid away from my memory, as those people I've known who are manic-depressive were either already in a mental hospital, mental ward, or prison... were addicted to drugs and in treatment... or were behaving soooo erratically and unproductively that I couldn't make the connection between any of them and Leonard. However, I remember the details in that passage regarding other symptoms Leonard has manifested and continues to. So, this would point to an even deeper understanding, from the inside out, with Leonard regarding Kelley.

~ Elizabeth
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Geoffrey
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Post by Geoffrey »

lizzytysh wrote:
>I'm open to correction here, however, since it's a civil suit, there's not the kind of recourse there would be if it were a criminal case. We no longer have debtor's prison; however, subsequent earnings would be subject to a judgement and be attached.
>
>Yes ~ I agree... absurd that she could just disappear and not be found. Absurd. [No wonder bin Laden can't be located, if this is any example... Being so broke that she has no phone is also, in my opinion, a ruse.


Well, it hasn't been stated that she has no telephone, only that her number is not known. While here, allow me to say that I follow with interest the mixture of both compassion and animosity people afford Kelley. Yes, perhaps suffering from depression could cause somebody to 'go off the rails'. There is somewhere a reason why she did what she did, but who amongst us has enough psychological competence to unravel the complexities of somebody else's emotional constellation and configure it to harmonise with that of their deeds? Nevertheless, when I sit in the auditorium, possibly during the autumn of this year, listening to Leonard sing his new songs - a part of me will believe it to be courtesy of Kelley. It will be to that blonde lady my gratitude will ultimately be directed. For had she remained loyal to the artiste she would not have unwittingly sewn the seeds that flowered into an evening with Leonard for myself and the other concert-goers. Ironic, really - the way a person can do something bad while simultaneously doing everyone a favour. It's unusual that such a despicable deed can have boughs so laden with fruit, that a silver lining can have such a black cloud surrounding it that no eskimo anticipated its cargo of igloos. And if Kelley is in that audience this autumn she'll know that a true Cohen fan will have mixed feelings towards her for prodding with a hat-pin the sleeping genius. Who's to say that Kelley had not anticipated this scenario? Could she have loved us and Leonard so much that she was willing to be crucified and take the sins of the world for our sakes? Who's to say she is not a patsy, or a Simon of Cyrene - carrying a cross that is not hers? Who's to say this is not all part of a divine plan, designed to nudge a docile Leonard once more into enough creativity to produce yet another world tour that we thirsty lovers of intellectual art would otherwise have likely never experienced? For our sakes did God not borrow Mary's womb? A big white lie is like a little ginger cat and a small black lie like a giant brown rat - but to an alien they appear alike. Maybe Kelley realised that money is to creativity what kryptonite is to Superman, for as Bertolt Brecht said: "What is worse, to rob a bank or to own a bank?" Do we thank Leonard, do we thank ourselves, or do we thank Kelley - for contributing to the creation of a new world tour? Let us be benevolent and call it a combined joint effort.

Geoffrey
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That's the worst over with...

Post by HolyTerror »

Whew!

I'm just glad that justice has been served and old Len can now try to get his money back. The truth shall set you free.

Best wishes Leonard, the future is bright.
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Dem
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Post by Dem »

Well Geoffrey as the ancient Greek proverb goes:
"There's no evil without some good in it.

As for the prospect of a world tour in autumn I'd be a bit
more reserved.

Dem
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Dem
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Post by Dem »

Just a question:
If I am not wrong the lawsuit said that Lynch siphoned around $5m from the musician's personal accounts and investments.

The judge granted $9.5m.

Why this big difference?
It is almost the double!

Dem
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Geoffrey
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Post by Geoffrey »

Dem asked:
>Just a question: If I am not wrong the lawsuit said that Lynch siphoned around $5m from the musician's personal accounts and investments. The judge granted $9.5m. Why this big difference? It is almost the double!


Good question. Maybe the judge has added on the interest that the sum would have accumulated had it remained where it should have been. He may also have added on a little extra for good measure - as punishment. In any case, the amount is only symbolic - because the story going around is that he's unlikely to ever see a penny of it. I still do not understand the legal procedure of this type of case. I imagine that Kelley will have to declare herself personally bankrupt, and sell any assets she may have in order to pay as much as possible. Whether this would include her home or her car I do not know. I hope not, because it would be an awful situation for her - and Leonard has not the personality to gain pleasure from knowing the distress of another person. Neither can I imagine him wanting revenge, but simply the return of his private property and savings - as far as possible.
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